PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was summoned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for another round of questioning on Tuesday.
Sources told the NSTP that Najib’s presence was needed to assist in a probe following the discovery of a new lead in the investigation into matters related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Sources said the investigation was related to the debt payment of 1MDB funds to International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC).
Najib spent six hours at the MACC headquarters before leaving at 4.30pm. He had arrived at the headquarters at 10am.
Around 20 pressmen had gathered as early as 9am to catch a glimpse of the former premier and obtain his comments. However, their efforts were in vain as he arrived and left via a back entrance.
This marks Najib’s fifth round of questioning by MACC over 1MDB-related cases.
Najib, who is also the Pekan member of Parliament, had previously faced 25 corruption charges involving RM2.3 billion allegedly stolen from 1MDB.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the offences at the Sessions Court.
His first four charges were under Section 23 (1) and 24 (1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 while the other 21 charges were under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA).
In the charges under the MACC Act, Najib, 64, was accused of using his then position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board, to receive bribes on four occasions.
Meanwhile, the money-laundering charges include nine counts of receiving illegal proceeds, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to other entities.
All the offences were allegedly committed at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, here, between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014.